1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicles which are capable of traveling over land, water, ice, or snow and which are capable of moving forward, backward, or sideways.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known that automobiles travel either forward or backward over land and that boats travel only forward on water. However, because of the conventional shape of boats, they have generally not been able to move backward or sideways on water. Even though some military amphibious vehicles have been able to travel over both land and water, they too have not been able to move either backward or sideways on water.
Nevertheless, vehicles capable of moving either forward or backward on water have been developed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,291, issued in 1976, Hagen proposed a unitary hollow paddle wheel composed of two circular pneumatic tubes supporting a tread therebetween for operation by a person within the wheel. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,838,022, issued in 1958, Wilson proposed a spherical water craft having an exterior annular series of paddles responsive to walking motion of a user within a hull of the craft. Although the vehicles of both Hagen and Wilson are capable of moving either forward or backward on water, they are both not capable of moving sideways and are also not intended for traveling over land.
Safety vehicles having a cylindrical shape and being designed for a life-saving function are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 1,244,022 issued in 1917 to Bodnar and U.S. Pat. No. 1,052,323 issued in 1913 to Davis. However, the vehicles of both Bodnar and Davis move only in the forward direction on water and are not capable of moving either backward or sideways. Likewise, because of the peculiar shapes of the bottoms of these two cylindrical vehicles of Bodnar and Davis, they are not able to travel over land.
Of more general interest is U.S. Pat. No. 520,899 issued in 1894 to Ronk for an aquatic bicycle in which pneumatic wheels are used with paddles attached to an exterior rim for propelling the craft through water. A platform for a passenger in the nature of a swinging carriage is suspended from a central shaft. A chain driven by either hand or electricity around sprocket wheels provide the power mechanism for the craft. This particular prior art device, although employing some of the same features as the present invention, moves only forward on water and is not multidirectional over both land and water.